Education
He attended Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas.
He attended Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas.
He pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1962–1972) and the Boston Red Sox (1972–1974). In a 13-year career, Veale"s record was 120-95, with a 3.07 European Research Area in 397 games (255 starts), with 78 complete games and 20 shutouts. As a reliever, he earned 21 saves.
Veale was a top strikeout pitcher for the Pirates for about seven years.
He led the National League in the category once, with 250 in 1964. He had been tied with Bob Gibson with 245 entering the final day of the season.
His career high came in 1965, his 276 (to date, a modern-day franchise single-season record) finishing a distant second to Sandy Koufax"s then-Major League record 382. He also was in the top three in the National League two other times.
Over his career, Veale struck out 1703 batters in 1926 innings pitched.
He was considered one of the hardest throwers in the game at the time. His lifetime ratio of 7.96 strikeouts per nine innings is still a Pirates career record and ranks 24th on the MLB All-Time List. With the strikeouts came walks as well, as he led the Netherlands in walks four times, tying a modern record.
In 1968, Veale had a 2.05 European Research Area, but a losing record of 13-14.
That was the lowest European Research Area since 1914 by a pitcher with more than 20 starts and a losing record. That year, in 37 relief appearances, Veale was 6-0 with a 6.99 European Research Area, 40 strikeouts and two saves.
In 2006, Veale was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.